


Damn Fine

by VanillaMostly



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, POV Minor Character, Post-War, Why do I do this to myself, still writing about Fred's death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 22:44:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17734058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanillaMostly/pseuds/VanillaMostly
Summary: Angelina remembers Fred. [post-war, pre-epilogue]





	Damn Fine

 

She could still remember the cocky grin on his face when he’d asked her to the Yule Ball. She’d been pleased, though she’d never give him the satisfaction of showing it. Of course she liked Fred. He could be a horrid pain in the arse, but that mischievous glint in his gaze was hard to resist. And with Fred, you knew there’d never be a boring night.

His eyes had grown wide as saucers when he saw her in her dress robe, making her all too conscious of her low neckline. But then Fred said something absurd to make her laugh, and she relaxed. She’d known him for, what, six years now? This was the same Fred who used to pull on her braids in Charms class their first year. The same Fred who used to make fart jokes before age sophisticated his humor somewhat. This was Fred, whose body odor she was intimately acquainted with thanks to their close working quarters in the Quidditch locker rooms. This was Fred, her friend.

She did have fun that night. A lot of fun.

And the kiss was nice. _Very_ nice. To her surprise (and perhaps some chagrin), Fred was a gentleman and left her at the door of the girls’ dormitory with just that.

Afterwards… she didn’t know what she expected exactly. There weren’t any more balls to go to, but there was always Hogsmeade, or the grass by the lake on a warm day… Or even a smirk or a brush at her side when he saw her. But in reality there was nothing like that. He was still his charming, friendly self, but he treated her no differently than before he’d asked her out, as if their night at the Yule Ball never happened, as if that _kiss_ never happened. So he wanted to stay friends. Angelina had to admit, she was a little disappointed. But she got over it, with no hard feelings. It was Fred, after all.

She thought it was just going to be left off like that, everything unspoken but well understood between them, but maybe Fred was more perceptive than she gave him credit for. On one of the nights leading to Fred and George's escapade from school, although she didn’t know it then, Fred fell in step with her on her way back from Quidditch practice. She hadn’t suspected anything, he was just quipping and telling ridiculous stories and distracting her all over the place, as usual, when he suddenly became unaccustomedly serious.

“Hey, Ange,” he said, looking at her intently, “I just…”

“Yeah?”

“I just wanna say,” he said, still looking serious, which threw her off more than what was coming out of his mouth, “you’re great, Ange. Sorry I’ve been a prat. Y’know, I wish I’d listened to George and— well, it’s too late now. I’m… gonna miss this place. Especially you, Angelina Johnson.”

“Fred, explain!”

“I can’t,” he said with a laugh. “You’ll see.” They had entered the castle by now, and there were other people around, and Fred was waving and backing off. “Oh, one more thing.”

“What?”

“You looked damn fine in that dress.”

That was his goodbye.

She did see him after that, at their new booming business a few times, then once or twice during the war when everyone was hiding underground… But they were rarely alone, and she never did get to ask him what he’d meant. They’d shared some looks though, that made Angelina wonder maybe, just maybe, once the war was over, once everything was back to normal, maybe they could pick up where they’d left off…

It never occurred to her that one of them wouldn’t make it till then.

It was George who later told her, who finally sealed some closure in her heart on the mystery of Fred Weasley. “He liked you a lot, Angelina. He liked you too much. He was afraid of doing anything because he didn’t want to mess up. He wanted to wait till we were successful and the richest fuckers in the world because he thought that’s what you deserved… He was stupid, wasn’t he?”

“He was,” agreed Angelina, swallowing hard.

She could still remember Fred’s gaze on her as he had waved goodbye that night, _You looked damn fine in that dress_ … She’d thought there was something in his gaze, something that didn’t quite match his smile, that made her imagine he had wanted to say something else.

_Don’t forget me, Ange._

Just maybe, he wanted to say that.

Angelina knew what she would have said in reply. _It’d be pretty hard to forget you, Fred Weasley._

 

**Author's Note:**

> In my mind, Fred/Angelina was more a "what could have been" scenario, not serious dating, because otherwise the George/Angelina getting married thing would be really icky. 
> 
> Did George like Angelina when they were in school? I played with that idea, and that maybe that's why Fred decided not to pursue Angelina. But that's waaaay too asian drama-esque. Ew. So no. I'm gonna go with, the whole George/Angelina thing happened later, after they've properly grieved.
> 
> (I think way too much about fictional characters)


End file.
